Taken
by castor442
Summary: "I think I know who took him. I should have realized this sooner. Baton Rouge. It's just an hour outside New Orleans". Stefan disappears from Mystic Falls in the middle of curfew and Damon tries to find him with the help of his friends.
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: The characters of the vampire diaries belong to L.J Smith and the CW. I just borrow them._**

* * *

Alaric entered the Grill and immediately noticed the familiar mop of dark hair sitting at the bar and unsurprisingly flirting with the waitress. He sat beside him on the empty barstool, swiping the glass of whisky under his nose and draining it. "Do you know there's a curfew in the town, Damon?"

"I'm over twenty one Ric. Curfew doesn't apply to me. I can do what I want"

"True. But you have a teenaged brother who is not legal yet, and never would be, that it applies to. There has been a lot of sneaking out lately" Alaric said. "And there's a one o'clock curfew for everyone under twenty five. I'm positive you fall at least a year short on that category"

"I'm a hundred and…"

"You know what I mean"

"Stefan's at home, sleeping. I made sure he was asleep before I left the house. You're one to judge. I don't see Jeremy or Elena anywhere here" Damon retorted

"They're much safer than Stefan right now. No one can get in the house without an invitation. And they are good kids"

"Stefan is fine. Did you come here to lecture me or have a drink? I miss the days when I could snap your neck and enjoy the bliss of silence for the moments it took you to resurrect" Damon grumbled

Alaric laughed." The only good thing about this body Esther left me with. I can kick your ass now. So watch it". He refilled their glasses as they talked about random things until Damon's phone rang. The caller id said Stefan. Damon frowned and answered the call.

"Did you plan with Alaric to call at this moment just so he could have the pleasure of telling me how wrong it was for leaving you at home alone? Because I s…."

"Damon"

"Caroline? Why do you have Stefan's phone"

"I was bored so I snuck out. Elena's is grounded and Bonnie's away for the weekend so I came to hang out with Stefan but he's not here. I was going to ask if he was with you but judging from your reaction, he's not there either. So where is he?"

Damon stood up from the stool, a worried frown starting to form on his face. "What do you mean he's not there? He was sleeping when I left the house. Where did you find his phone?"

"On the table beside his bed"

"Put her on speaker" Alaric mouthed. Damon put the phone on speaker and placed it on the table. "Caroline, do you see any signs of struggle?"

"Oh. Hi Alaric. There are no signs of struggle in the bedroom. I'm checking the rest of the house now. You don't think someone kidnapped him, do you? Because that will be abs…. wait. I found something. There's a smudge of blood on the stairs. The carpet is crumpled, like someone has been dragged across it and one of the lamps is broken. You think it's true? Someone's really taken him?"

"Stay there Caroline. We're on our way" Alaric ended the call and handed the phone back to Damon who was in a dreamlike state. "Come on. We have to go"

"I swear he was asleep when I left" Damon muttered

Alaric snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Damon. Snap out of it. We're leaving". He paid for their drinks and practically dragged Damon out of the Grill.

* * *

Damon searched every room in the house, even after Caroline gad assured him that she had already done that. Then much to Alaric's amusement, he turned towards the cellar.

"He's not here"

"I already established that Damon. About five minutes ago. And why were you in the cellar anyway? What? You think Stefan probably sleepwalked into the dungeons?"

Alaric spoke quickly, before Damon clawed Caroline's throat out. "He was not taken by a vampire or a wolf. They wouldn't have dragged him, they would carry him. And a witch would not need this" he held up the syringe they had found on Stefan's bed. It had contained vervain. "They would just spell him"

"Then who took him?"

"That's what we need to find out, and fast. We need Bonnie"

* * *

Stefan groaned as he fought to open his eyes. He felt weak and disoriented. His body felt like it was on fire. _Vervain._ He tried to sit up but his elbows collapsed from under him and he went crashing back down to the floor. _No wait._ The floor was moving. He was in a car, and judging by the way he was sprawled out without any constrictions he would say it was a van. He tried to move again.

"Uhh, guys, he's waking up. What should I do?" A voice asked close by

"It's been only two hours. He is still weak. When he starts to gain his bearings a little bit more, give him another shot"

"Is this really necessary, Marie? Did we have to take him? We could have just taken some of his bl…"

"We need him Brigitte. They said to bring him with us. Just watch him, okay"

"That's easy for you to say. You are in front there with Alex while I'm stuck back here with the vampire. Forgive me for freaking out" Brigitte said

Stefan felt the van stop and another person join them in the back. They said it had been two hours. That means they would just be leaving Richmond. His foggy mind tried to do some thinking. Damon would come for him. He always does. Damon would have left the house immediately he fell asleep. He wouldn't bother about his own curfew. Damon had never been one to follow the rules. Ironically, he rather liked enforcing them. He liked to taunt him about the fact that he would never outgrow curfew but he wouldn't leave him alone for fear that he might sneak out so he would've waited until he was asleep to leave the house. He would only find him missing when he returned, which time Stefan couldn't tell. That meant Damon wouldn't find him today. But… he groaned as he was injected with more vervain. Then everything went black.

"Why did you do that? He was still feeling the effects of the first shot" Brigitte asked, annoyed

"It was moving. Clearly the effect of the first was wearing off" Alex answered

"It? That is a boy lying over there. And he has a name. You don't have to be rude"

"It is not a boy. It is not even human. And whoever thinks otherwise is an idiot"

Brigitte stared at Alex incredulously as she tapped away at her phone. She walked over to Stefan and shifted him into a comfortable position. Alex scoffed and Brigitte felt very much like slapping that smug grin off her face. She pulled a blanket over Stefan's prone form and sat beside him on the floor of the van.

"Don't you think he needs something else? A cuddly teddy bear maybe" Alex taunted. "Get over yourself Brigitte. This is not some fragile boy. He's a vampire. And he can rip your throat out in the seconds it takes you to remember that fact. Stop mothering him"

"At least you called him he and not it"

"Guys, stop arguing. Alex, don't call him it. And Brigitte, Alex is right. That is not just some adolescent. Be careful. We'll be home soon enough"

* * *

Damon stopped pacing immediately he heard a car outside the mansion. He heaved a sigh of relief when Bonnie marched through the door with a worried expression on her face. "My dad bailed so I was already on my way home. Any leads? How long has it been?"

"About twelve hours. Did you bring your grimoire?"

"No I don't have it"

"What do you mean you don't have it Bonnie?"

"My dad doesn't like me bringing them around. It creeps him out. 'Sides I don't need a grimoire for this" Bonnie said. "I need something of his. Give me his hairbrush. It has his DNA. And a map" she requested. When Damon returned with the items she placed strands of Stefan's hair onto the map and recited a spell. The hairs rose off the map moved in the air for some seconds, then suddenly floated to the floor.

"What does that mean? They are still in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked hopefully

"No" Bonnie answered, typing away at her laptop. She looked at Damon. "Please tell me you have wireless"

"Of course I do. Stefan is a student, remember?" he answered irritatingly. "What are you doing anyway?"

"I'm printing a new map. The spell didn't work because the map is too small"

"The map is too small? But that is the map of Virginia" Caroline said, confused

"It means they are outside the state. Whoever took Stefan is no longer in Virginia" Alaric explained to Caroline's horror. Damon returned with the map he had printed in Stefan's room and handed it to Bonnie. She did the spell again, successfully this time as this was a map of the entire country.

"They're in … Baton Rouge? That doesn't make sense" Bonnie said

"I'm also confused. Who would take Stefan all the way down there? And for what? We ruled out vampires and werewolves because they wouldn't do such a sloppy job and witches are also out because they wouldn't need vervain to subdue a vampire. Seriously, without that vervain syringe, I would have been all for the witches but…"

Bonnie gasped. "Caroline you are a genius. I think I know who took him. I should have realized this sooner. Baton Rouge. It's just an hour outside New Orleans"

"New Orleans" Damon deadpanned. "Ric, you still have that white oak stake?"

"The vervain and the sloppy way he was taken. It was the witches of the French quarter. Though why they'll want to kidnap a vampire …"

"Witches? Bonnie, witches don't need vervain to…"

"This kind of witches does. They practice ancestral magic. They siphon magic from their ancestors. Its powerful magic but it has one big disadvantage. The witches who practice ancestral magic can only access their magic where the ancestors are. When they leave, they lose access"

Alaric nodded in understanding. "That was why they needed vervain. They couldn't use magic on Stefan outside New Orleans"

"I'm going to kill your boyfriend Blondie. This is his fault. I know it involves him somehow" Damon snarled

"We don't know that. And he's not my boyfriend. Besides you can't kill him without killing Stefan or yourself so…" Caroline shrugged

"There's nothing I can do from here. Immediately they enter New Orleans they'll have access to their magic and cloak Stefan. It's what I'll do. If we want to find him we'll have to go to New Orleans" Bonnie said, moving towards the door. "Klaus and I have unfinished business anyway. Come pick me up when you're ready"

* * *

"You think she can take on Klaus?"

"Caroline, she's Bonnie Bennett. She has her magic, which is quite formidable. She has access to magic from the most powerful witch who ever lived and by the look on her face, I'm pretty sure she is going to reconnect with her expression. She can take on anything and anyone" Damon chuckled "And she just realized she's out of people Klaus can threaten. He won't harm you, he has a soft spot for Stefan and with Alaric stronger than him and practically unkillable, he won't dare go for Matt or Tyler. He wouldn't know what hit him. I wouldn't want to be Klaus right now"

"What about you?"

"I'm Damon Salvatore. I can take care of myself. And I've got a badass witch by my side. In case you haven't noticed, me and Bonnie are besties now"

"You think she'll kill him?"

"If he had anything to do with Stefan's disappearance, I think I'll beat her to it"

Caroline rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'll go pack some clothes" and then she left

Damon turned to Alaric after Caroline was gone. "You ready to kick some original ass?"

"I thought you'd never ask"

* * *

 _I'm really really sorry about my other stories. I'm coming home tomorrow and I promise I'll update all my stories by Monday. really sorry for keeping you waiting guys._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: The characters of the vampire diaries do not belong to me. They belong to LJ Smith and the CW**_

* * *

"So this is New Orleans" Bonnie mused, looking round. "It's just like a bigger version of Mystic Falls. Wolves, vampires, witches. I can feel them all. All they need are doppelgangers and two thousand year old witches and vampires who can't be killed, then we'll have us a replica Mystic Falls"

"Stefan is here so they have a doppelganger now. And Alaric's the only unkillable vampire in the world and he's all ours. I don't think Quetsiyah would like it here anyway" Damon said. "You think you can find Klaus Bon-bon?"

"That won't be necessary" Alaric chimed in when he saw Bonnie ready to start looking for Klaus without any personal effect of his. _That girl was seriously scary sometimes_. "It shouldn't be hard to find him. There's mention of his name all over the city. Guess he's made a reputation here too. We'll find him"

"Shouldn't we be looking for Stefan or the witches first?" Caroline asked

"I can't find Stefan or the witches now. But we can get to Klaus. And I bet he knows exactly where they both are"

"Ok Ric. Tell us where our favorite original is"

* * *

Stefan opened his eyes blearily and gazed around the room he was in. It wasn't furnished except whatever he was lying on and it looked old and stony… _Stony_. Was that the right word? Well it was made of stone. At least he thought so. And there were these candles burning and markings on the wall that could only mean one thing. Witches. He groaned. He tried to get up and found that he was strapped to whatever he was laying on- _a table?-_ and he felt very lightheaded. His wrists hurt, and he felt like his life force was slowly dripping out of him. And it was. Literally. His blood was draining out of his slit wrists into two buckets. Well this brought back memories.

"Uhh" he groaned weakly. "I thought you lot were gone. Dead"

"Dead?" a voice responded from the shadows. "Why would you think that?"

"Mark… Marko…kos" his throat was sore and he was really thirsty

"Marko? Who the hell is Marko?"

"Le-leader… traveler"

"You're not making a lot of sense sweetheart. Then again, who would after they've lost so much blood?" the voice taunted. "You are very special _mon amie_ and we have plans for you. Big plans"

Through the haze of his mind, Stefan heard a different set of footsteps. "Stop taunting him Alex. He's suffering enough as it is"

The first voice, Alex, chuckled darkly. "Not again Brigitte. Besides, we need the blood, and we can't get it without him suffering so get over yourself"

"We don't ** _need_** the blood Alex. They'll come to an agreement, all the factions, a truce of sorts. The fighting and bloodshed will be over. So the boy doesn't have to suffer anymore"

"Even if there's a truce, I don't believe they'll hold up their end of the bargain. And the elders don't either, or they wouldn't send us to get the boy. The vampires treat us like dirt, like they are higher up on the food chain than we are. Marcel openly executed us when we practiced magic. You think all that pain and anguish would disappear because of some agreement? We are servants of the earth itself. We are powerful and yet they treat us like we don't matter. This, this is just an insurance policy, so if they go back on their agreement we have a fighting chance" she hissed into Brigitte's face. "And there's a reason why it was the boy and not the girl. He's a vampire. No matter what we do to him or how much blood we take, he'll live. She on the other hand would have died because she's human. So you see? We are being considerate or it would be the girl on that altar"

Alex had started yelling at some point during her tirade and Stefan's head hurt. He felt for them. Really, he did. Whoever this Marcel guy was, he had guts, and he really hated the witches. But that didn't mean he wanted to be an insurance policy or a secret weapon against the vampires if the truce didn't work out. He had already gone through the doppelganger-blood-ritual thingy twice, and they hurt like hell both times, he wasn't about to try for a hatrick. All he wanted to do was go home, get yelled at by Damon for going out during curfew and then crawling into his bed and sleeping for a century. He licked his lips weakly. He was so thirsty. He decided to appeal to the more humane of the two; the one who seemed to care.

"P-please… I …I'm thirsty" he rasped

Alex and Brigitte turned to look at him. "I'll get you some water" Brigitte said

"N-no. Not wat-ter"

"He means blood" a third voice joined in. Stefan was confused. Just how many people were in the room with him? Had his senses dulled so much he couldn't notice them?

"Marie. Thank God you're here. Perhaps you can talk some sense into Brigitte's head" Alex snarled, walking away. "And we are not giving him blood" she threw over her shoulder, and immediately bumped into someone coming in.

"We're not giving blood to whom?"

"Davina" Marie said. "I was just about to call you"

* * *

"Doppelganger? They actually exist?" Davina was surprised. "I thought Katerina Petrova was a myth. And their blood is powerful?"

"Very. We brought this one from Mystic Falls. He's going to help us fight the vampires"

"But he…he's just a boy. This is not right"

"Brigitte already did the whole concerned mother hen thing, thank you very much. Davina, his blood can incapacitate vampires with the right spell"

"Then don't you have enough? We have to let him go. Look at him. He's hurting. Why do you need the blood anyway? There's going to be a meeting between the factions to end these rivalries"

"That is what I said" Brigitte said enthusiastically, glad to have some support

"We can't let him go Davina. At least not until the elders says so" Marie said

"And you think Klaus or your buddy Marcel would keep their ends of whatever agreement they come to at the meeting? I don't think so. I'd rather be prepared for another war than be caught unawares" Alex snarled

"I get it. You don't like vampires. It took me some time too but I realized they weren't all bad. For all we know this boy could be one of the good ones. And Klaus won't have a say in the truce, it will be Elijah. And he's trustworthy"

"Trustworthy? Wake up Davina, and stop being so naïve. They are all the same. Bloodsucking monsters. And so is your little friend on the altar. Of course you'll find a way to side with them. It was after all with your enormous help that Marcel slaughtered most of our number"

A look of hurt passed over Davina's face and she stared at the floor. "I apologized for that and the elders forgave me"

"I don't care" Alex practically screamed into her face. "I am the only Deveraux left in my family because Marcel killed Jane Ann and Sophie and I'd like to keep it that way. We are more powerful than the vampires, and that boy over there is going to help us show them how much control we have over them" she glared at Davina and Brigitte. "And if you're not going to help, you better stay the hell out of the way. And don't even think about freeing the boy or you will regret it. Come on Marie"

Brigitte and Davina looked on helplessly as Alex and Marie stormed out. A weak groan from Stefan brought their attention back to him. "We can't just leave him here" Brigitte was tense with worry and sympathy

"No we can't. And we won't. I need to get Marcel"

* * *

"Elijah"

Elijah sighed as the heavy footsteps drew closer. He put down his pen and stared patiently at the door, savoring whatever little serenity he had left because immediately his little brother walked through that door; it would fly out the window.

"Elijah" Klaus stomped into the room. "Elijah, didn't you hear me calling brother?"

"Of course I heard you Niklaus. I think the whole of New Orleans heard you" Elijah stated calmly. "What can I do for you?"

"You can't go to that meeting Elijah. You can't make peace with the werewolves and the witches. They won't stick to the agreement and immediately we let our guard down, they'll attack"

" _Here we go again_ " Marcel muttered

Elijah gave a little smile at Marcel's comment, and then turned to his little brother. "I'm sure they are thinking the same thing right now. Its time for the distrust of each other to end, Niklaus. There has been too much bloodshed" Elijah said walking away

Klaus sputtered as he hurried to catch up with him. "Too much bloodshed? Elijah we're vampires. We're **supposed** to shed blood. And you think this little agreement will wipe out centuries of fighting between the factions? All it will do is tell our enemies that we are weak" Marcel rolled his eyes and sighed deeply and dramatically, earning him a glare from Klaus. "If Rebekah were here, she'll agree with me"

Elijah chuckled. "Rebekah's not here. And I doubt she'll agree with you, brother. Besides…"

 _"_ _Marcel?"_

"That is Davina"

 _"_ _Now what"_ Klaus huffed

"Marcel, where are you?" Davina called

"What's up, D? You look worried"

Davina gave a startled yelp when Marcel suddenly appeared behind her. All this time spent around vampires and she still hadn't gotten used to their speed. "The witches are worried Marcel. They think you won't keep your end of the agreement when the meeting is over…"

Elijah gave Klaus an I-told-you-so look.

"…So they are preparing for war. They have a weapon, a powerful one, and if you declare war on them you would lose. You need to assure them that you won't go back on the agreement or they will hurt you real bad. Please, make them believe you"

"A weapon? What kind of weapon?"

"A boy. A vampire. They said they brought him from Mystic Falls. With the right spell his blood can hurt and incapacitate vampires. The witches have him as an insurance policy and… you need to rescue him Marcel. He's just a teenager-no more than 17 or 18-and they're hurting him"

"Mystic Falls" Klaus snarled. "This is not a coincidence. It's those bloody Salvatores. I know it. They've joined the witches to plot against us. We should have killed them when we had the chance". He looked at Elijah. "This… this is why the witches can't be trusted. The meeting hasn't even happened yet and they are already planning a war. Who knows what secret vampire-hurting weapon the werewolves have also accrued?"

"The witches **can** be trusted. It is **you** who can't. You are the main reason why they felt the need to have a contingency plan" Davina glared at Klaus accusingly

"Marcel, call Diego. Let him take some of your boys and go and bring the boy. Try not to hurt any of the witches" Elijah said calmly to Marcel, while still managing to hold a seething Klaus off of Davina.

"I should go with them" Klaus growled. "Rip out this vampire's heart before the witches can use him"

Elijah physically held him back. "No you are not going to kill him. And you shouldn't underestimate the witches. You keep thinking they are weak, Niklaus but the French quarter witches are not to be trifled with. Remember Agnes and Celeste and Davina before she became a little friendly? You are the last person the witches need to see. They are already on edge as it is"

Klaus jerked out of his grasp. "What is so special about this vampire anyway?"

"He's a doppelganger. Their blood is really powerful" Davina answered

"A male doppelganger who is also a vampire?" Elijah looked slightly shocked. "How come we don't know this?"

"Probably because you left Mystic Falls before the good parts of our messed up lives came into play"

Marcel glared at the new voice. "Who the hell are you?"

The boy- _man?-_ smirked, and Marcel shuddered at the coldness in his blue eyes. "Oh I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Damon Salvatore. Now where the hell is my brother?"

"You!" Klaus glared coldly at Damon. "You have some balls coming here after what you've done. Come to gloat? I should send your heart to the witches as a present. Then maybe in your next life you would learn not to plot against me or my family" he said, angrily stomping towards an equally angry Damon.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you"


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: The characters of the originals and the vampire diaries do not belong to me.**_

* * *

Klaus will deny it till the day he died but the little high pitched girly squeak he gave before practically diving behind Elijah for cover was lost in Damon's hostile growl. Elijah himself took a step back, before putting his calm face back on. Marcel hadn't heard Klaus' frightened yelp, but he had seen him take cover behind Elijah and even now he still peered over his shoulder at the strangers. He hadn't seen this reaction from them since the days their father hunted them down.

"Where's Stefan?"

"Mr. S-Saltzman" Marcel was shocked to hear the stutter in Elijah's voice. "I promise you we don't know what you're talking about"

Damon growled savagely at Elijah as the veins popped up on his face and his fangs dropped. "He's lying" he barked as he run at Elijah, sending him and Klaus crashing into the ground. A second later Damon flew through the air and his back connected painfully to the concrete pillar. Marcel grabbed him midair and tried to pummel him into the ground, only for Damon to pull some weird but oddly fascinating gymnastic move; turning cartwheel midair and reversing their positions before they reached the ground.

Everything was a blur to Davina. _Damn that vampire speed_. In about five seconds she had seen that raven haired man-Damon-run at Elijah and then now holding Marcel in a choke hold on the ground. _What the hell happened in between?_ After that initial throw, she hadn't seen Elijah-or Klaus, whoever it was that threw Damon into the pillar-engage and she was confused. She couldn't deliberate though as a second later Marcel flew past her, through the wall and into one of the rooms. She turned to see the caramel-skinned girl no one had actually paid attention to just drop her arm. _Ah, so they brought a witch_. She didn't look that much older than her-maybe 18 or 19-and it looked like she was protecting that Damon guy. Well she also got someone to protect, and he just went through a wall. She narrowed her eyes at Damon and started to make his blood boil.

Bonnie heard Damon's shout of pain and she turned to see the girl squinting at him. She magically dropped a slab of concrete in front of her to startle her enough to break her concentration. It worked. She turned and stared at her.

"I don't want to hurt you. But if you stand in my way, or touch him" she nodded towards Damon "I will"

Davina stared evenly at her. "Same goes for you and my friend you flung through that wall"

Marcel dusted himself off as Davina and Bonnie stared each other down. "Its okay, D. I'm alright"

After one last glare Davina turned to look at Marcel as Bonnie went to help Damon off the ground. It was only then that she saw the reason why Elijah or Klaus had not been involved in their little showdown. The man Elijah had called Mr. Saltzman had his hand buried in Elijah's chest, most likely around his heart, and Klaus stood frozen, alternating between glaring daggers at him and fearing that he would rip out Elijah's heart.

"O-Kay" Alaric breathed. "Now that that we all know each other, lets try this again" he pulled his hand out of Elijah's chest. "Where is Stefan?"

"We don't know" Klaus growled. "What should we care anyway? We're not his keepers"

Alaric punched him and he went flying throw a wall. Davina and Marcel's eyebrows went up simultaneously. If the hand in Elijah's chest hadn't clued them in, this definitely did. This guy was not to be messed with. _At all_. Nobody threw Klaus around like that. Except maybe Mikael. He watched as Alaric dragged Klaus back into the courtyard. Klaus spat some blood on the ground and glared venomously at Alaric.

"You can punch me all you want but I know you won't kill me because then your precious Damon and his brother Stefan would die. We don't know where Stefan is or how come you can't find him but I don't bloody care!" he spat

Mikael 2.0-that's what Marcel decided to call him-looked calmly into Klaus' eyes. "It may be true that I can't kill you without my friends going too but I can kill Elijah. And I can find Rebekah and kill her too. Then I will let you be all alone for a couple of years as Bonnie looks for a way to kill you without killing them, and trust me she'll find it, only then will I rip your black heart from your chest"

"Let me take a crack at it" Bonnie said coldly

"Do your worst witch. Have at it. You're not nearly strong enough" Klaus taunted

"You'd be surprised" Bonnie returned as she sauntered over to Klaus. "I'm glad Caroline decided to stay at the hotel. I wouldn't want her to see this"

Klaus' glare softened at the mention of the perky blonde's name. "Caroline is he…..Aaaahhhhh!" he screamed as Bonnie broke his bones and sent him crashing on his knees. Marcel rushed at Bonnie, only for Alaric to throw him back.

"I wouldn't" he warned

Klaus sputtered angrily as he tried to glare at Bonnie through the pain. "I am going to wring Jeremy's neck, then find your mother and that boy of hers-Jimmy -and I will kill them slowly and painfully while you watch-nnnngggggaaaahhhh!"

Bonnie made her hand into a fist and watched as Klaus choked on nothing. "Ah, I forgot. You love making threats, though this is not very original of you. You already threatened my mother and Jeremy once. Then you tried to kill Jeremy by running him over. Let me show you how it would feel to have parts of you taken to ship home to your family-it was what you were going to do to my mother unless I helped you-and how Alaric felt when he was run over by that sired hybrid of yours". Gurgling sounds were heard as Klaus threw up blood and bleeding wounds appeared all over his body. A tear escaped down his cheeks as Bonnie chuckled darkly. "Having fun yet?"

Elijah looked horrified at Klaus writhing on the ground. "I assure you Mr. Saltzman…"

"Alaric"

"…Alaric, that we don't know anything about Stefan's disappearance. We didn't take him and we don't have him. There's no need for Miss Bennett to…"

Davina gasped. "Bennett? You're a Bennett? Like Emily Bennett and Sheila Bennett kind of Bennett?"

Marcel looked at Davina, confused, as Damon spoke. "We know you didn't take him but that's not to say you don't have him or know where he is. Those French witches were probably working for you. All you had to do was threaten a couple of their relatives, and you are damn good at that" he snarled at Elijah while glaring at Klaus at the same time. Then he turned to Davina. "And yes little witch. She's **that** kind of Bennett. So I wouldn't push it"

"Elijah" Klaus gasped, long bloody gashes starting to appear on his body through his clothes as Bonnie stood calmly over him, not moving a muscle and just staring. "Brother, please….help" he sobbed out

"Alaric, please" Elijah said. "I'll help you personally to look for Stefan. Just…"

"Wait. French witches? As in the French quarter witches? They are the ones who took your brother?" Davina asked, fervently hoping they'll say yes so this could end. She didn't like Klaus but what he was going through at Bonnie's hand at the moment-no matter how well deserved-she wouldn't wish on any one.

"Yes. Why? Have you seen him? Do you know where he is?" Damon asked in a voice that was a cross between cold and hopeful. "Tall, dirty blonde hair, green eyes?"

"Yes. The witches have him as a weapon when the vampires go back on the truce. That is why I'm here. I came to ask Marcel to go and rescue him" Davina explain in a rushed breath

"Truce? What truce? And how is he a weapon?" Alaric asked

"No it can't be. You said the witches had a vampire doppelganger. Stefan is not a doppelganger" Elijah said

"He is" Damon answered, and at Elijah's shocked face added. "It's a long story. I wasn't kidding when I said you guys left when things had just started to get juicy"

"Well now you know where your brother is. My boys are bringing him back. Can you tell your witch to back off Klaus?" Marcel said

"Oh that is not about Stefan. That is personal. See, when Klaus was in Mystic Falls he did some pretty mean things to Bonnie. Always got her to do some spells for him and when she refused he would threaten her friends and on one occasion her mother. So she's a little beefed up right now" Damon stated nonchalantly, his snark returning even as he began to pace worriedly-not that he'll ever admit it. He looked over at Klaus' bloody almost unrecognizable form. "Huh. She really did a number on him"

"You did turn her mother Damon, and I don't see her slicing you to bits" Elijah said.

"You see when I died and went to the other side to bring Stefan back, Bonnie and I got stuck in some retro prison world as the other side fell apart. We spent a couple of months together alone and now we are bff"

"Wait you died? Stefan too? How …?"

"Like I said, long story"

"And you will tell it later. Right now you need to get Bonnie off Klaus. Please" Davina pleaded to the surprise of Elijah and Marcel. "I think he's had enough"

"That's up to Bonnie" Damon replied, pacing restlessly, then raised his voice for Bonnie to hear. "Bon, you get everything off your chest yet?"

"Not nearly" Bonnie spoke quietly under her breath, knowing Damon would hear

"It should be" Alaric said as he turned toward the gate. "Stefan's returning. I can smell his blood"

Bonnie released Klaus and Damon tensed suddenly as Marcel looked at Elijah. "I don't hear or smell anything. Not Diego. Not any of my guys. Can you?"

Elijah shook his head as he knelt beside Klaus and looked him over. "Alaric is…special" he said as he brushed some hair out of Klaus' eyes.

"You should clean him up" Alaric said quietly. He heard Bonnie speak to Caroline on the phone. "He'll be pleased with the company he's about to receive"

The gate opened at that moment and Diego came in, followed by one rather large man carrying Stefan. He looked just the way Damon had left him-still in his pjs-except he was covered in blood and there was a graying tint to his skin. Damon hurriedly pried him lose from the burly man's hand (he broke the man's wrist and would have started another fight had Marcel not intervened) and lay him on the floor, kneeling behind him and cradling his upper body.

"Stefan. Hey Stef, come on wake up" he shook him. "You didn't think I'd leave you here did ya?" When he got no response he glared at Davina. "What the hell did you people do to him?"

Davina took a wary step back and bumped into Marcel, who stood protectively in front of her. _Seriously, this Damon guy could freeze someone with those blue eyes._ "You can't talk to her like that dude" Marcel said. "You're scaring her"

Damon laid Stefan down on the ground and stood toe-to-toe with Marcel almost frying him with his glare _. This guys eyes were a real mystery_ , Davina mused. One moment they were cold and now they were blazing with barely controlled rage. He ignored the footsteps of Diego and the rest of Marcel's boy band behind him. "I'm scaring her?" he spoke coldly. "My brother is practically dying over there and you think I'm scaring her? You better hope Bonnie can fix him or scaring isn't the only thing I'm gonna do to her"

Someone-probably annoyed with the way he spoke to Marcel- growled angrily behind him and Damon decided he'd had enough. Stefan's kidnapping had brought out all his protective instincts and he'd not had nearly a good fight with Marcel and he was restless and that last growl practically sent him over the edge. He turned around quickly and drove his hand into the nearest person's chest. He really didn't care if he was the one who growled or not. He grabbed the guys' heart and fully intended to pull it out, only for pain to blossom behind his eyes. _Nifty witches and their blasted aneurysms._ He gasped as he fell to his knees, dragging the poor guy along with him as his hand was still gripping his heart. He wouldn't go down so easy.

It took him a moment to realize that he was not the only one moaning in pain. Marcel and his mariachi band dropped to their knees clutching their heads, Elijah had stopped soothing Klaus in lieu of trying to breathe through the pain and Klaus just sobbed weakly. Guy was too banged up to do anything else. Even Alaric was hunched over and groaning.

Davina looked around confused. They had all dropped like flies. Then she looked up and gave a little gasp. "Alex, Marie, what are you doing?"

"Getting back our doppelganger" a voice spoke as four women walked in.

Davina gasped again. Louder, this time. "Genevieve…and everyone"

Bonnie walked over to them. "So you are the ones who took him. The powerful withes of the French quarter kidnapping a boy for your selfish purposes. You are not what I imagined you to be"

"It was not selfish. It was for protection" Genevieve answered, head held high. "And who are you?"

"I'm a friend. We came to bring him home. There's no way you're getting him back"

Genevieve chuckled. "And who's gonna stop us? You?"

Bonnie chuckled too, except more darkly. "I said _**we**_ came for him. I'm not gonna stop you" she nodded towards Damon. "He will". She suddenly flung Genevieve into a wall-albeit lightly, she was mortal after all-breaking the immobilization spell. Or so she thought. The spell broke for just about two seconds, and Damon-who had pulled his arm out of the unfortunate guy's chest and was probably on his way to rip out Genevieve's throat-went down again in pain.

Genevieve laughed as she got up. "You're powerful. I'll give you that. But all the elders of the Quarter witches are here and so are our ancestors. Tens of thousands of them. You're going to have to do much better than this. We are taking the boy. You'd be wise to stay out of our way" she said as she motioned for Marie and Alex to grab Stefan

Bonnie suddenly processed what Genevieve had said and what she herself had explained to Caroline back in Mystic Falls. She grinned darkly and summoned her expression to the surface.

"Then why don't we take this somewhere else?"


End file.
